Process and apparatus for the continuous finishing of knit fabrics and hosiery goods

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the treatment of knit textile materials which comprises first spreader means for introducing a plurality of webs in a spread-out state in a side-by-side relationship into a plurality of treatment stages, the first treatment stage includes means for impregnating the textile material with a treatment liquor and means for dehydrating the knit textile material after impregnation, the second treatment stage includes a steam treatment chamber with means for conveying the textile material through the chamber, the third treatment stage includes at least one suction drum washing bath means positioned behind the steam treatment chamber for washing the impregnated textile material, and the fourth stage includes a sieve drum dryer for drying the knit textile material. In addition, the apparatus is also provided with means for conveying the knit textile material through each of the treatment stages substantially without tension, means for guiding the material between the stages and additional spreader means for spreading out the material between various treatment stages.

United States Patent I Bosch et al. [451 Aug. 22, 1972 [54] PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE 2,838,823 6/1958 Miller .;....26/55 R CONTINUOUS FINISHING OF KNIT 2,919,496 l/l960 Fleissner ..6'8/DlG. 5 FABRICS AND HOSIERY GOODS 2,973,635- 3/1961 Speers ..68/5 D I711 BM Kaveflenweg 18, 3:572:23? 31323 E52;;;1;;iiiijjjjjjjiiiijffib?i m3; 3,402,059 9/1968 Cohn et al. ..26/56 x Giittingen/Bodensee; Heinz Flelss- Primary Examiner walter A. Scheel ner, Wolfsgartenstr. 6, Egels bach Assistant Examiner Phi]ip Coe nGearmfrankfun am Mam, of Attorney-Craig, Antonelli & Hill er ny [22] Filed: Aug. 28, 1969 ABSTRAC 2 App] 53 73 An apparatus for the treatment of knit textile materials which comprises first spreader means for introducing a plurality of webs in a spread-out state in a sidel Foreign Appllcauon y Data by-side relationship into a plurality of treatment Aug 28 1968 Germany up 17 8 5 2276 stages, the first treatment stage includes means for im- May 2 1969 Germany "P 19 22 498] pregnating the textile material with a treatment liquor and means for dehydrating the knit textile material 52 US. Cl. ..68/5 D 68/DIG. 5 after impregnation the Second treatment Stage 51 Int. Cl .D06c l/06 cludes a Steam chamber means 58 Field or Search ..26/54, 55, 56, 20, 70; conveying the mule maem1 hmugh the b 8/1491 1493 151 68/5 D 5 E DIG the third treatment stage includes at least one suction 5 9 drum washing bath means positioned behind the steam treatment chamber for washing the impregnated textile material, and the fourth stage includes a sieve [56] References Clted drum dryer for drying the knit textile material. In ad- UNITED STATES TENT dition, the apparatus is also provided with means for conveying the knit textile material through each of the 624,884 5/1899 Welsh ..26/54 X treatment Stages Substantially without tension, means 2,057,822 10/1936 DICCIISCI ..8/l5l X for guiding the material between the Stages and addi 2,071,922 2/1937 Drobile (it al. ..8/15I X tiona] spreader means for Spreading out the material \iyh et between various treatment stages. elSS 2,493,944 l/ 1950 Brooks .,68/DlG. 5 23 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2,785,042 3/1957 Grajeck et al. ..8/l49.l X

22 Q' G T O U U U U' T "5 1%: TT T ,7 i fi PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS FINISHING OF KNIT FABRICS AND HOSIERY GOODS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for the continuous finishing, particularly the bleaching of knit fabrics and hosiery goods, especially those made of cellulose fibers, e.g. cotton, wherein the knit fabrics and hosiery goods are impregnated with a treatment liquor, steamed, washed and/or rinsed, and dried. in this connection, the knit fabrics and hosiery goods are conveyed and guided continuously in open width, substantially without tension, during the individual treatment processes and are exposed to the individual treatment media in this state. This tension-free treatment is especially important in producing an orderly mesh structure. Also, a continuous treatment serves to make the quality more uniform and also generally improves the quality. Furthermore, a continuous treatment is more economical than a discontinuous treatment, since the former requires substantially less personnel, and the individual treatment media can also be utilized much more effectively.

It is conventional to dry several tubes of hosiery goods (tricot) simultaneously in a side-by-side arrangement on a sieve drum dryer. The tubes of hosiery goods are first spin-dried and spread over a spreading machine and stacked in the fully spread condition in folds. Several tubes of these stacks are then deposited in front of the sieve drum dryer and fed, by way of a conveyor belt, to sieve drums which are subjected to a suction draft. One the sieve drums, the tubes of hosiery goods are retained by the suction draft and conveyed through the treatment chamber by the rotation of the sieve drums.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the conventional continuous apparatus for drying tubes of textile materials in such a manner that the production can be increased without substantially increasing the size and expense of the existing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the continous finishing of knit fabrics and hosiery goods which produces an orderly mesh structure and an improved and more uniform quality in the final product.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are'given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Pursuant to the present invention, it has been found that the above-mentioned disadvantages may be eliminated and a much improved apparatus for continuously finishing knit fabrics and hosiery goods may.

tion of the capacity'of the plant. Such a manufacturing operation has not been conducted heretofore since there was the danger of a migration of the tubes and the formation of longitudinal creases (pleats, folds), as well as the danger that the tubes, due to longitudinal tensile stresses, would shrink too greatly in their width. However, according to the present invention, such dangers can be eliminated in an effective manner by the arrangement of spreaders at those points in the apparatus which are particularly endangered.

Heretofore, it has been customary to steam and smooth the knit fabrics and hosiery goods after their treatment, i.e. after the drying step on so-called felt calenders, and then to deposit these goods in zig-zag folds. This procedure is an additional discontinuous treatment step which requires additional operating personnel.

In order to further simplify the manufacturing process, it is now being suggested to steam the knit and hosiery goods, after the drying step, continuously in an open-width or widespread condition and to deposit the goods in the spread condition without any tension in stacks of zig-zag folds. In this connection, it is advantageous to conduct the steaming process, not on the previously employed steaming calender, but on atleast one sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft. By passing the steam through the material by a suction draft, a substantially more uniform and intense steaming effect is obtained. At the same time, the material adhering to the sieve drum by the suction is ironed by the suction draft.

An essential feature of the present invention resides in providing the treatment plant of the type mentioned in the foregoing with a spreading device which is designed and suitable for multiple-web plants. In this connection, the spreading device can have a common draw-off device, for example a pair of rolls or a sieve drum subjected to a suction draft, and can also preferably exhibit a common feeding device for example driven rolls and/or a conveyor belt for all webs of knit fabrics and hosiery goods. According to the present invention, the spreading device is to be provided with exchangeable spreader elements, for example spreader rods and brackets of varying widths, or with spreader elements which are adjustable with respect to their widths, so that varying and changing widths of material can be processed. Experiments have shown that it is especially advantageous to guide the webs of material over the spreading device at the inlet, i.e. a spreader device arranged in front of the impregnating device, from the top toward the bottom, preferably in an inclined orientation from the top toward the bottom. In accordance with the present invention, it is likewise possible to compress the material i.e. to buckle or fold the material lengthwise, before it enters the impregnating device. By means of this compression or buckling effect, the longitudinal tensile stress occurring due to the squeezing step, after the impregnating process, is compensated for. It has proven to be particularly advantageous to provide, after the washing baths, a dwell element for example a dwell trough or chute. This dwell trough or chute has the effect that the material recovers somewhat prior to drying and thus the squeezed edges are not fixed during the drying procedure. Furthermore, this trough exhibits the advantage that it compensates for the variations in the guidance of the material.

A special problem presenting itself in the continous ing of the material due to the testing step. In order to avoid this advantage, the provision can be made, according to the present invention, to dispose a guide roller in place of the squeezing unit. However, the roller can preferably be replaced by a sieve drum, whereby an exchange of liquids from bath to bath can be likewise eliminated.

In order to further improve the entire shrinking procedure in the plant, it is possible to provide an additional apparatus, according to the present invention, which can be inserted, depending upon requirements, either in front of and/or also after the drying stage. This apparatus can be a device which continously telescopes the fibers or knit stitches mechanically into one another. This measure exhibits the advantage that the material, which travels in a uniform rhythm through the various treatment stages, and which thus exhibits a quite uniform consistency over the entire width and length thereof, can also be continuously subjected to a mechanical shrinking procedure, which uniformly improves the quantity of the material along the entire length thereof.

Another feature of the present invention for improving the quality of the material comprises the arrange ment of an additional spreading device for several tubular lengths of material. By means of this spreading device, the individual stitches are opened up. Thus, the material becomes substantially more air-permeable, and the drying efficiency is correspondingly increased. By the use of the spreader, the pressing edge in the tubes is substantially opened up and removed so that the fixing the pressing edge by the subsequent drying process is substantially avoided. Also, the tubes are thus brought back again to the desired width.

It is suggested to again provide a trough as the material storage means after the drying device, and to dispose a sieve drum steamer thereafter.

Accordingly to the present invention, the sieve drum steamer is elevated thereby providing the inlet for the material being treated at the bottom of the sieve drum. This is in contrast to the otherwise customary sieve drum steamers. This feature has the advantage that, even in case of a rather large inlet opening, a clear separation of the steam atmosphere is ensured due to the different specific gravitiesof steam and air, and the spreading elements can be extended through the inlet opening directly up to the surface of the sieve drum. This arrangement of the spreading elements in the steaming process according to the present invention is especially important, since it is thereby possible to compress the material upon introduction into the steaming chamber on the spreading elements, in the conveying direction, and to transfer the material in this compresse'dcondition to the sieve 'drum which is subjected to a suction draft. The material is steamed by means of saturated steam or slightly superheated steam at a temperature of about 103 C. to achieve the best shrinking effects. It is unnecessary to keep the steam atmosphere entirely free of air.

At the outlet of the sieve drum steamer, a pair of rolls is disposed. This pair of rolls provides an additional pressing (ironing) effect and simultaneously seals the outlet, flawlessly.After the pair of rolls, a-conveyor belt is provided at the sieve drum steamer transports the material to a folding device, i.e. a device for depositing the material in pleats. The plating arm of the folding device is common to all webs of material. However, in order to be able to operate with varying webs of material, i.e., material webs of varying thickness, it is desired to provide for each individual web of material a separate, adjustable storage table which can be raised and lowered in height and to control the depositing speed by the stacking height, for example, by scanning this height by a light barrier and employing the light for controlling the lowering mechanism of the lifting table. The pallet on the lifting and lowering device is to be exchangeable, so that it can be adapted to the respective width of the tubular material.

In order to ensure an exact deposition of the material, holding strips are disposed laterally. In the abovementioned assembly, these holding strips can extend over the entire operating width, so that several tubes can be retained together. As soon as a new layer of folds arrives, the respective holding strip is folded upwardly and then replaced onv the new layer. This procedure can be controlled, for example, by way of a cam plate. In this connection, the lowest position of the folding table is to be at the level of the upper surface of the conveyor carts, so that the thus-deposited stacks can be pushed from the folding table onto the conveyor cart without being lifted.

The plaiting (pleating, folding) device can be driven by means of a crank drive. However, the use of a crank drive frequency results in a non-uniform depositing speed for the material, since such speed is equal to zero at the points of reversal, i.e. the points of the pleats, and reaches its maximum value between the reversal points. However, the customary conveying means connected in front thereof effect a continuous flow of material, which does not coincide with the intermittent depositing motion. Accordingly, undesired accumulations of the material on the feeding path are the result.

In order to simplify and perfect the above-described arrangement, the invention provides for driving the folding device and the crank drive and in addition a feeding belt can be provided for the material to be folded, said feeding belt containing intermittent drive, the acceleration characteristic of said drive being adapted to that of the folding guide.

In a practical embodiment of this drive, the drive of the feeding belt can be mechanically coupled with that of the laying (folding) guide, two oppositely switched free-wheeling units being provided between these two drives.

Furthermore, the provision can be made that the feeding belt is arranged to be ascending in the direction toward its outlet side. At the feed side, above the belt, a

delivery or transfer roll is provided, rotating in the same direction as the drive roll of the belt, and transfer roll, together with the belt, forming a trough for a material buffer unit.

Finally, the feeding belt is mounted, in a conventional manner, to be pivotable about the axis of its drive roll, and a folding guide fantail is hingedly connected at the outlet end of the belt, the other end of this fantail being likewise hingedly connected to the folding guide.

If a trough is to be provided between the individual treatment units set forth above, and if the control units are designed so that they can be individually switched off, it is possible to turn off a unit for a short period of time and effect any necessary repairs on this unit, without having to shut down the entire line.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, it is suggested to provide, separately from the continous treatment device, a preconditioning assembly, By means of this assembly, the tubes are untwisted. Furthermore, this preconditioning assembly also provides a hole detector which can operate optically or mechanically and a knot detector. The hole detector determines the presence of holes in the material and marks such holes on the goods. By means of the knot detector, twists in the tubular material are detected so that said twists can be manually removed. This preconditioning assembly can be coupled with a depositing device which preferably deposits the tubular material in folds on carts. In this connection, the carts are adjustable in their widths to accorrunodate the respective material. One single such preconditioning assembly is sufficient for supplying a plant for multipleweb operation, for example, for processing four to six parallel webs. In order to obtain greater continuity, it is suggested to set up several carts in advance one after the other underneath an inlet framework and to align the ends of the individual stack of material one behind the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not lirnitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIG. 1 shows a preconditioning assembly for folding the material to be treated;

FIGS. 2 and 2A show a continuous plant of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows the drive for a fold-depositing device on an enlarged scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus of the present invention comprises a preconditioning assembly consisting of a turntable l, and a container 2 deposited thereon. In this container 2, the material 3 is stored as it comes from the knitting machines. A pair of rolls 4 serves as the knot detector. Above this pair of rolls, the hole detector 5 is arranged, which latter can be designed, for example, as a light barrier. By way of a pivotable trunk piler (trunk depositing unit) 6, the drive of which is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3, and by way of a pair of feed rolls 7,

the materials is deposited in folds in the cart 8. The hole detector 5 can also be equipped with a spreader.

V The material 3 is transported on carts 8 to a point underneath a draw-off rack 9, and the ends of the stacks of material lying on the individual carts 8 are sewed to each other. The draw-off rack 9 has driven rolls l0 and an obliquely disposed spreader 11. The spreader consists of a pair of rolls 12 which impart a buckling effect to the material and spreading rods (not shown) inserted between the tubes. These spreading rods rest on a roll 13. Upon a change in the operating width, the respective spreading rodsare exchanged. However, in place of these spreading rods, it is also possibleto employ driven spreaders. Driven spreaders exhibit the advantage that the material can then be compressed prior to entering an impregnating bath 14. Several carts 8 are disposed side-by-side beneath the draw-off rack 9, so that several tubes can be guided in parallel in a side-bysiderelation through the plant. The impregnating bath 14 can have a suction drum 15, as shown, in order to intensely permeate the material with the bleaching liquor. However, in many cases, a dip (immersion) roll will be sufficient. Thereafter, the material 3 is squeezed by means of a press 16. The liquor absorption, in this connection, can range, for example, between about and 200 percent, preferably about and percent.

By way of an inlet belt 17, the tubes are conveyed to a suction drum 18 disposed in a steamer housing 19. Here the tubes are subjected to an intense throughflow of steam and thus are heated uniformly to a steam temperature of about lO0lO3 C. Thereafter, the tubes are deposited in folded condition on a conveyor belt 20, where they remain for a certain period of time within the steam atmosphere.

By way of a pair of draw-off rolls 21, the tubes are passed on to a trough 22. This trough 22 can be pivotably mounted, so that it is possible to control, by means of the weight of the material in the trough, the speed of the washing machine 23 connected thereafter. The washing machine 23 exhibits a pair of draw-in (feed) rolls 24, as well as several sieve drum baths 25 with presses (a pair of rollers) 26 connected therebehind. The speed between the individual washing baths can be set to different values by means of an infinitely variable gear. This affords the possibility that any shrinking of the material in the washing baths can be compensated for by adjusting the speed correspondingly, without lengthening the tubes thereby. A lengthening of the textile material can be caused, in addition to rolls which rotate too rapidly, also by the pairs of rolls 26 connected after each washing stage, since the material is compressed by the pressing step for squeezing the liquid out between the rolls, and thus it is lengthened. This can advantageously be avoided by providing, in place of the two pressing rolls 26 illustrated in connection with the first two washing baths, merely guide rolls 26' provided between two respective baths, as illustrated at the outlet of the washing machine in FIG. 2A. The guide rolls can be those of normal design, or also suction drums which absorb and remove the liquid taken up by the material in the preceding bath thus preventing an intermixing of the varying bath liquids. After the washing baths, another trough 27 is provided, fromv which the tubes can be removed by way of spreaders, which are not shown, for

example by means of a pair of rolls, and can be fed directly to the sieve drum dryer 30.

In the illustrated plant, a device for shrinking the textile material is inserted in place of the above-mentioned draw-off rolls, which device can also be disposed after the sieve drum dryer 30. An additional shrinking of the material in the longitudinal direction in a continuous plant has proved to be particularly advantageous because, in this manner, the treated material can be provided. According to the present invention, the feeding belt 51 is furthermore disposed in an ascending direction toward its delivery or outlet end. At the feeding or inlet end, above the belt, a delivery or transfer roll 53 is provided, which rotates in the same direction as the drive roll of the belt. This transfer roll forms,

- together with the belt 51, a trough for a material buffer provided with a shrinking effect which is uniform over its entire length. The shrinking of textile material processed in a discontinuous fashion is problematic insofar as the material exhibits a differing consistency, depending on the respective preceding treatment, for example storage or perhaps a steaming process with non-uniform results over the length of the material, etc. This defect cannot be cured by a shrinking process conducted uniformly over the length.

In the drawing, for example, a device is shown which consists of two oppositely rotating sieve rolls 29 operating at differing speeds. The suction draft in these drums is effective only over a small circumferential area, but at that point with an intensed and increased suction force. In this manner, when the drums 29 rotate, the mechanical compression of the textile material is effected at the point of transfer from one drum to the other, due to the fact that the mesh structures held by the suction draft are pushed into one another (telescoped) due to the difference in speed.

The sieve drum dryer 30 inserted after the shrinking device 28, 29 is equipped with drums 31 subjected to a suction draft, over which the material is alternatively guided and held by said suction draft. At the end of the sieve drum dryer, a cooling drum (chill roll) 32 is provided. The latter can, again, be preferably designed as a sieve drum subjected to a suction draft. The material is cooled by means of ambient air. Thereafter, the tubes once again enter a trough 33 and pass from there, by way of spreaders 34, into a sieve drum steamer 35 containing a sieve drum 36 subjected to a suction draft. The sieve drum steamer 35 is disposed on an elevated level and the inlet for the material is arranged on the underside thereof. Thereby, it is also possible to extend the spreaders 34 through the material inlet directly up to the sieve drum. At the outlet of the steamer 35, a pair of rolls 37 is disposed which seal the steamer outlet and simultaneously smooth the material. Thereafter, a conveyor belt 38 is provided. Underneath the conveyor belt 38, a folding device 39 is disposed which deposits the material 3 on pallets 40 which are attached to a lifting or lowering device 41. Laterally of the plaited-down material 3 pivotable, holding strips 42 are arranged. The right-hand holding strip 42 is shown in the upwardly pivoted position.

The drive of the pivotable trunk piler 6, having the numeral 54 in FIG. 3, will be described in detail below.

The plaiting-down (folding) device or the folding guide 43 is driven by a crank 44 by way of a rack 45, a pinion 46 and a belt (rope, chain) 47. The folding guide 43 consists of the pair of rolls 48 and a storage frame 49. A feeding belt 51 is driven by means of a belt (rope, chain) 50. In order to impart to the belt a unidirectional motion in place of the reciprocatory motion, two oppositely oriented free-wheeling units 52 are unit.

Finally, the feeding belt 51 is mounted to be pivotable about the axis of its drive roll, and a laying (folding) guide fantail 54 is hingedly connected at the delivery end of the belt, the other end of this fantail being likewise hingedly connected with the folding guide 43.

The apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2A exhibits the essential advantage that the material can be guided without tension during the entire treatment and thus can shrink without tension. A compression of the material is possible in all sieve drum baths, and furthermore in the sieve belt steamer as well as in the sieve drum dryer, and the sieve drum steamer. By means of this compression, a better shrinking of the material is obtained. In the sieve drum dryer, the compression is effected in an effective manner by having the respective subsequent drum run somewhat more slowly than the preceding drum. The difference in speed can be adjusted and controlled by means of variable speed gears. The continuous treatment, particularly the continuous bleaching of tricot exhibits an additional. advantage above and beyond that of a greater economy, that is, that the passing-through times are very short and thus also the storage periods are brief, whereby large storage spaces are eliminated. Also, thetreatment is always uniform. Due to the shorter bleaching times, the material is also better preserved, i.e., the damage factor is substantially smaller. The illustrated plant of the present invention is particularly suitable for a H O bleaching process.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of knit textile materials which comprises first spreader means for introducing a plurality of webs or tubes of said knit textile material in a spread-out state in a side-by-side relationship into the first stage of a plurality of treatment stages, said first treatment stage including means for impregnating the knit textile material with a treatment liquor and means associated with the impregnating means for dehydrating the knit textile material after impregnation, a second treatment stage including a steam-treatment chamber having means for conveying the knit textile material through said chamber, a third treatment stage including at least one suction drum washing bath means disposed behind the steam-treatment chamber for washing the impregnated knit textile material, and a fourth treatment stage including a sieve drum dryer provided behind the suction drum washing bath means for drying the knit textile material, means for conveying said knit textile material through each of the treatment stages substantially without tension and means for guiding said material therebetween, and additional spreader means for spreading out the material spreader means is provided in front of the impregnating means in an inclined downward direction.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the impregnating means includes a roller which imparts a buckling effect to the textile material so that it is devoid of tension during the impregnating step.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dehydrating means associated with the impregnating means are squeeze roller means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein between the impregnating means and the drier means a shrinking means is provided which mechanically compresses the textile material. 9

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the shrinking means comprises two oppositely rotating sieve rolls operating at differing speeds, the textile material being mechanically compressed between said sieve rolls.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a spreader means for multiple web operation is provided in front of the drier in a vertical direction.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a cooling drum is provided after the sieve drum drier.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second steamtreatment chamber containing at least one sieve drum and conveying means is provided after the sieve drum drier, said second steam-treatment chamber disposed at an elevated level so that the inlet thereto is on the underside of the sieve drum conveying means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein a driven spreader means for multiweb operation are disposed at the inlet of the second steam-treatment chamber.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the spreader means extend through the inlet of the steam-treatment chamber directly up to the sieve drum means.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a plaiting- 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the storage container is provided with a pivoted holding strip.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plaitingdown means is a folding device.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the folding device includes a pivotable trunk piler provided with a drive means for depositing the knit textile material in a folded condition in storage carts.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the pivoted trunk piler comprises a folding guide driven by a crank means in cooperation with a rack, a pinion and a belt.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the folding guide consists of a pair of rolls and a storage frame.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said belt is associated with two oppositely oriented free-wheeling elements, said elements being connected to each other by a belt and one of said elements being further connected to a feeding means by another belt.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the feeding means is a conveyor belt which conveys the material to a folding guide fantail WhlCh coopera es with the folding guide in laying the textile material in folds in the storage carts.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein a transfer roll is associated with the drive roll of the feeding conveyor belt, said transfer roll rotating in the same direction as said drive roll and forming, together with the feeding conveyor belt a trough for a material buffer unit.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the feeding conveyor belt is mounted to be pivotable about the axis of its drive roll.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein one end of the folding guide fantail is hingedly connected to the outlet end of the feeding conveyor belt and the other end is hingedly connected with the folding guide. 

1. An apparatus for the treatment of knit textile materials which comprises first spreader means for introducing a plurality of webs or tubes of said knit textile material in a spread-out state in a side-by-side relationship into the first stage of a plurality of treatment stages, said first treatment stage including means for impregnating the knit textile material with a treatment liquor and means associated with the impregnating means for dehydrating the knit textile material after impregnation, a second treatment stage including a steam-treatment chamber having means for conveying the knit textile material through said chamber, a third treatment stage including at least one suction drum washing bath means disposed behind the steam-treatment chamber for washing the impregnated knit textile material, and a fourth treatment stage including a sieve drum dryer provided behind the suction drum washing bath means for drying the knit textile material, means for conveying said knit textile material through each of the treatment stages substantially without tension and means for guiding said material therebetween, and additional spreader means for spreading-out the material between various treatment stages whereby said material is maintained in a spread-out state during travel through said apparatus.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first spreader means is provided in front of the impregnating means in an inclined downward direction.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the impregnating means includes a roller which imparts a buckling effect to the textile material so that it is devoid of tension during the impregnating step.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dehydrating means associated with the impregnating means are squeeze roller means.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein between the impregnating means and the drier means a shrinking means is provided which mechanically compresses the textile material.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the shrinking means comprises two oppositely rotating sieve rolls operating at differing speeds, the textile material being mechanically compressed between said sieve rolls.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a spreader means for multiple web operation is provided in front of the drier in a vertical direction.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a cooling drum is provided after the sieve drum drier.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second steam-treatment chamber containing at least one sieve drum and conveying means is provided after the sieve drum drier, said second steam-treatment chamber disposed at an elevated level so that the inlet thereto is on the underside of the sieve drum conveying means.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein a driven spreader means for multiweb operation are disposed at the inlet of the second steam-treatment chamber.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the spreader means extend through the inlet of the steam-treatment chamber directly up to the sieve drum means.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a plaiting-down means is associated with the second steam-treatment chamber for depositing the material into a storage container.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the storage container is provided with lifting and lowering means.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the storage container is provided with a pivoted holding strip.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plaiting-down means is a folding device.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the folding device includes a pivotable trunk piler provided with a drive means for depositing the knit textile material in a folded condition in storage carts.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the pivoted trunk piler comprises a folding guide driven by a crank means in cooperation with a rack, a pinion and a belt.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the folding guide consists of a pair of rolls and a storage frame.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said belt is Associated with two oppositely oriented free-wheeling elements, said elements being connected to each other by a belt and one of said elements being further connected to a feeding means by another belt.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the feeding means is a conveyor belt which conveys the material to a folding guide fantail which cooperates with the folding guide in laying the textile material in folds in the storage carts.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein a transfer roll is associated with the drive roll of the feeding conveyor belt, said transfer roll rotating in the same direction as said drive roll and forming, together with the feeding conveyor belt a trough for a material buffer unit.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the feeding conveyor belt is mounted to be pivotable about the axis of its drive roll.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein one end of the folding guide fantail is hingedly connected to the outlet end of the feeding conveyor belt and the other end is hingedly connected with the folding guide. 